Painting Life
by Seastone Chair
Summary: Steampunk AU setting. Arthur runs into Alfred as he escapes from an angry farmer. Arthur is forced to help Alfred home after he learns about Alfred's injury. Arthur learns what true beauty is. Oneshot; fluff; AlfredxArthur


_A/N: This is completely new for me. I've never considered writing something like this, but I thought it would be kind of cute to write. I wanted it to be a little fluffy! Please enjoy!_

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Eyes closed. Total darkness. Eyes open. Total darkness. Repeat.

The sound of busy street venders met the boy's ears through closed windows. He could hear his guardian turn restless in her bed. The smell of smoke and pollution was almost numbing to his sensitive nose. Letting out a soft sigh, the boy pushed the bed covers away from his body.

He threw his legs over the side of the bed and stretched; his taunt skin stretching tight over his muscles. The blonde boy waited for a minute until he could feel his feet touch the warm ground before standing and making his way over to his closet. He had his room memorized by now. Nothing was out of place.

After putting on whatever he thought would look good together, he walked out of his room and through his house. He wanted to go outside; he loved nature and the feel of what little life was left in a dying world. The blonde pushed the front door open and was greeted by the rush of stale air. A wide smile graced his lips as he carefully took a step out of his front door.

"Alfred!" A voice yelled from nearby. Alfred turned his head in the direction of the voice. Footsteps grew louder as they came closer. "Do… Do you need a guide for today?" The footsteps skidded to a halt as the question was shyly offered up.

"No thank you, Matt. Not today. I'm not going too far." Alfred smiled as he heard Matt pant from his sprint. The young boy was always trying to help Alfred out. "But maybe you could wake up and inform everyone that I'll be gone for a bit?"

"O-okay!" Matt made a shuffling noise before walking in Alfred's house to do as he was asked. That kid was just too kind. Alfred wasn't sure if it was out of pity or if the boy just really wanted to help. Oh well! He shrugged and slid his hands into his pockets, turning to the right. He slowly walked further and further away from his home to explore new aspects of this world.

* * *

His legs were about to give away if he ran any more. His ragged breathing burned his dry throat as his brain screamed for more air. But he had to keep running! He ran as fast as he could, taking cover in a field of wheat. He tried his best not to break many of the stems as he made his way through the field.

"I know you're in there, Arthur Kirkland!" An angry voice shouted from far away. Arthur finally slowed down his run and crept skillfully through the wheat without breaking any of the stems. He wanted to get the farmer off of his track so he could eat the food he stole in peace. By the time he was at the edge of the field he suddenly broke into a run. The second he burst out of the field he jumped… right over a large canal that was conveniently placed to water the field.

A wide grin was on his face as he leapt to his freedom. Until he noticed that he was on a path to fly right into a blonde boy walking down the dirt road.

"Shit!" Arthur cursed loudly before he collided painfully with the boy. The blonde let out a startled cry as they fell onto the ground and rolled; limbs getting tangled together. When they came to a halt they both were too stunned to move.

Arthur glanced at the boy. He looked completely terrified; like a deer in the headlights. His heart skipped a beat at that look on the boy. Those blue eyes were wide and staring straight ahead. He wasn't moving. Almost like he was too afraid to move.

"Hey…" Arthur spoke softly as if not to spook him further. Still the boy flinched back a bit but his eyes shifted to look at Arthur. Or… to look at Arthur's nose.

"I'm going to move so don't start screaming." _Weirdo. _He began to pull himself away from the boy.

"I'm not going to scream! What do you take me for?" The boy's face turned from terror to a defensive pout.

"Shut up, git." Arthur muttered as he concentrated on untangling himself, no thanks to the other boy.

"I do what I want." The blonde mumbled back but shut up anyways. Arthur rolled his green eyes at the stupid blonde. They certainly weren't getting along already. _Although, you did just flyjump into him. _His common sense whispered to him. Arthur ignored himself and continued with his work.

A few minutes later they were free and sitting on the dirt road facing each other. Still, the blonde boy's eyes were looking to the side of Arthur's face.

"Name." Arthur commanded.

"Excuse me?" The boy frowned. Arthur let out a frustrated sigh; he didn't like to repeat himself.

"What's your name." It was more of a statement than a question. "I'm Arthur."

"Oh. I'm Alfred! I'm the hero of my town!" A huge smile grew on Alfred's face as he sat up straighter.

"Really now," Arthur put his elbow on his knee and leaned his chin on his hand. His other hand absentmindedly reached up and began to play with his aviator goggle strap.

"Yeah! I'm just that awesome." Alfred beamed, eyes still not looking Arthur in the face. Arthur adjusted his backpack strap with all the food in it before he suddenly waved his arms around. Alfred stared happily at the side of Arthur's face not noticing his arms waving frantically.

"Are you blind or something? Why don't you look me in the eyes?" Arthur glared at the blonde, a bit ticked off.

"I'm not looking at you?" Alfred asked, confused. He shifted his eyes a bit. Sky blue eyes stared directly into Arthur's green eyes making Arthur grow silent. He hadn't noticed the exact color of his eyes until that moment. "How about now?" Those eyes reminded Arthur of when he was younger…

_His father had taken him up in his Zeppelin for a test drive. After handing his son a gas mask to place on his face they flew up into the pollution clouds covering the sky. By the time they were above them, the little Arthur gasped. He took off his gas mask as the beauty of the sun shone on his skin; warming the pale flesh. The blue sky smiled upon him—_

"Hey!" Arthur snapped out of his reminiscing at the sound of Alfred yelling. "You still there?"

"Yes I am still here. No need to yell." Arthur had to busy himself again before he was trapped in those eyes once again. He turned his backpack around and fished out a carrot to nibble on.

"Well you weren't answering! I wasn't sure if you walked away or not." Alfred said as if to defend himself. "And since you ran into me you've confused me."

"What are you talking about? How have I confused you?"

"I don't know which way I came from now."

"Oh." Arthur paused. "So you are blind."

Alfred blinked and arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow as if to imply that Arthur was a little bit slow. Arthur grumbled as a new thought formed in his head. He would have to be a gentleman and help the boy get home. Swell.

"Alright! Get off your arse and let's get you home." Arthur stood up, finishing off his carrot (and not offering Alfred any just to spite his own gentlemanly manners), and looking down the road from the way Alfred had walked away from.

That stupid smile was once again on the blonde's face as Alfred struggled for a moment to stand up. The boy was facing the wrong direction completely. Arthur grabbed the boy's shoulder and turned him around.

"Whoa. I would have never gotten home if I went that way, huh?" Alfred said lightly. Arthur had to give him credit for being so happy about being blind.

"You wouldn't have gotten home if I hadn't come along anyways." Arthur retorted.

"I so would have! I was staying close to the ditch in the road! I knew what I was doing!" Alfred shot back. And so the banter between the two began.

* * *

It was only an hour later before Arthur noticed that it was getting darker than usual. With the pollution clouds in the sky it was usually always was somewhat dark and muggy. But when nighttime fell it would become pitch black. He wouldn't be able to see where he was going and it was dangerous to be out.

"Hey Alfred," Arthur began. He knew the boy wanted to get home but they would have to stop their journey and find some shelter. The two of them were still in farmlands and there was still about an hour of farmlands left before they would even get close to any town. Alfred had to have been walking for a long time…

"Hmm?" Alfred acknowledged his name was called happily.

"We need to stop for today. Night is almost upon us." Arthur's eyes were scouting out any sort of shelter as he spoke. Alfred was silent for a beat.

"So I won't get home today? My guardians will worry…" He trailed off. Arthur took that as an acceptance to their fate for the night.

"I'll find somewhere to stay, don't worry too much." Arthur said as he took the role of protector. Alfred mumbled something about Arthur being too puny to take care of both of them. They walked in silence until Arthur spotted something that looked like a small cottage.

Without saying a word, Arthur grabbed Alfred's hand and tugged him to the cabin off the side of the road. Alfred tripped and stumbled over things on the ground as he was roughly pulled into the small house.

It was a small one room cabin with no furniture or any sort of comfort. The room was sticky warm and covered in dirt and ashes. _Just like the rest of the world._

Arthur couldn't complain. He hadn't been inside a house in quite a long time. Houses were a rarity in the time they lived in. Most things were burned in a wild attempt to "cleanse" the world.

"You can sit now. There's nothing but dirt on the ground." Arthur said as he let go of Alfred's hand and walked over to a wall to sit and lean on. He watched as Alfred reached out with his hands and took careful steps. Surprisingly, Alfred made it to the same wall that Arthur was leaning on. The blonde boy sat close to Arthur.

"How did you know I was over here?" Arthur asked curiously.

"I heard your footsteps walk this way." Alfred said with a tiny smile on his face.

"Oh." Right. _Smooth, Arthur, you sound just so smart right now._

Silence fell.

"Hey, Arthur," Restless Alfred began, breaking the short silence. "This may sound weird, but can I feel your face?"

"Yeah that is weird." Was all Arthur said as he leaned away a little bit.

"It's just to paint a picture of what you look like in my head." Alfred's tone of voice was sad. Arthur could practically hear the pout and the puppy dog eyes.

"Fine." Arthur repositioned himself to face the boy as Alfred did the same. Carefully Alfred's hands reached out. They bumped into Arthur's shoulders and gripped onto them. An electric bolt of lightning shot from those hands to the elder's heart. _Why?_

Slowly and lightly, Alfred's slim hands slid from his shoulders to touch the skin on his neck. Arthur had to suppress a shudder.

His slender fingers brushed against his jawline. They traced his jaw to his chin before moving up to his lips. Alfred's index fingers lightly brushed across his lips. Arthur parted them without thinking. The hero paused momentarily as he felt hot breath on the tips of his fingers.

He resumed his task by gently caressing Arthur's cheeks in both of his hands. Arthur's breath caught in his throat. _What was happening?_

Arthur closed his eyes as he felt those fingers move towards his green irises. He lost himself in Alfred's light touches. How could he let a stranger affect him like this? His guard was falling slowly as those fingers softly pushed the barriers down.

Alfred ran his fingers through Arthur's messy dirty blonde hair. They got stuck in a few tangles but once they were out of his hair, the touches stopped. Arthur opened his eyes. He couldn't see anything but black.

"Alfred," Arthur whispered into the darkness. The other made no noise in response. Arthur's heart was pounding loudly in his chest. He was sure that Alfred could hear it. That was only further proven when he felt a hand lightly touch his chest; right over his heart.

"It was a beautiful day out today, wasn't it?" Alfred said softly. Arthur's thick eyebrows furrowed together.

"It was brown and musty today." Arthur responded, confused at the talk of the weather.

"You may think that," Alfred began. Arthur felt the air around him shift as the younger boy moved closer. "But when you see nothing, everything is beautiful. When the only things you can do is touch and smell everything is bright and colorful. I've been told what color the sky is or what color the ground is."

"So you know they aren't beautiful." Arthur cut in.

"I don't know what colors are what." Alfred said as if he hadn't been interrupted. "I only know of three colors: green, yellow, and blue."

"How?" Arthur questioned.

"I wasn't always blind. My first and only memory of sight was when I was three. I was with my parents in a Zeppelin. They took me up in the sky. It was so blue… and the sun was such a blinding yellow! I remember my mom whispering that blue and yellow made green. To prove her point she painted the two colors together on the side of the Zeppelin." Alfred smiled in the darkness. "She was a painter. My father was an aviator."

Arthur was silent. The two of them shared almost the same memory, but Arthur didn't say it.

"Everything I paint in my own mind is one of those three colors. Everything I see is alive." Alfred said so quietly Arthur had to strain to hear him.

Alfred's hand pressed a bit harder over Arthur's heart.

"I want to know you're alive, too." Alfred whispered as he leaned even closer. Arthur felt his face heat up at those words. He wanted to feel alive too…

"Alfred," Arthur once again began. "Touch me."

With that, Alfred's slender hands were everywhere on Arthur's body. Through the night they explored each other's bodies in the darkness.

* * *

Arthur woke up with a jolt. He sat up quickly, eyes darting rapidly around the room. No one was there. He let out a sigh of relief. Nothing was out of place then.

Wait a minute… Alfred!

Arthur scrambled to get up and burst out of the small cabin. "Alfred!"

A small yelp was heard from behind the cabin. Arthur hurried around to behind the cabin to find Alfred zipping up his pants. Oh…

Both their faces became bright red as Arthur glanced away and Alfred glanced down.

"We should… head towards town." Alfred cleared his throat. Arthur nodded and walked over to Alfred to take his hand.

They walked in silence towards the dirt road before heading in the direction they were going the day before.

Hours later both men heard a faint shout. They immediately let their hands go and looked in the direction of the shout. Arthur could see a small boy, wearing a red sweatshirt running their way.

"Al!" A small voice squeaked as it came closer.

"Aw, Matt." Alfred said quietly, smiling. Arthur felt a little strange; like he was about to be a third wheel.

The small boy was suddenly upon them as he launched himself at Alfred. Arthur had good enough reflexes to quickly support Alfred as Matt gave Al the biggest hug.

"I covered for you, but I was worried sick, Alfred!" The small boy scolded Alfred.

"Sorry, Matt." Al ruffled the boy's hair. "Hey Arthur, are you going to stay around?" Alfred looked to the direction he thought Arthur was.

Arthur had to admit that Al had gotten pretty close.

"Yeah, I'll be around."

The two men smiled at each other.

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_A/N: I think I'm getting worse and worse at endings! _


End file.
